


Figures In the Shadows

by Hiveling_Shrew



Series: Bridal Demon [2]
Category: Impact Wrestling | Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2020-10-05 02:47:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20481578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hiveling_Shrew/pseuds/Hiveling_Shrew
Summary: 'She's recently been seeing things from the corners of her eyes, even before drinking anything,Hearing the all too familiar laughter of a demon.'





	1. Chapter 1

She's sat on the stairs, drinking some extravagant wedding champagne.

As she has been for the past hour or so. And every day, too.

Such is the life of Laurel Van Ness.

She's recently been seeing things from the corners of her eyes, even before drinking anything,

Hearing the all too familiar laughter of a demon.

Laurel vaguely remembers that demon going by "Envy", but she's sticking to Rosemary. Using the individual names makes life a little too complicated for her.

But, she has one piece of good news despite all of this.

One piece of good news that keeps her going, in fact.

Allie is gone.

She's dead.

The bane of her existence is FINALLY dead.

And Laurel Van Ness has somehow outlived her.


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as she's finished that thought, 

She feels a shiver.

No, a touch.

More of a small scratch, actually..

A warning from whatever's haunting her? - She's already forgotten the detail of what exactly it is.

In fact, she's forgotten what the warning was for.

She takes a sip, letting the taste fill her mouth.

The champagne was worth every penny of her Daddy's money.

But now, he's gone too.

She got everything on his will.

She remembers vaguely what they said happened.

An unfortunate accident with some kind of bear In his house, ending with the fire that destroyed it and caused the disappearance of her sister.

She knows, though, that no animal could get anywhere near the Van Ness estate.

No human, either.. 

Now, a demon on the other hand..


	3. Chapter 3

..But, demons aren't real.

That's what Sienna said.

Rosemary? She's just.. super goth!

And she's nailed that supernatural aesthetic..?

Why's she in Laurel's head?

Laurel doesn't quite know.

She's been trying not to think about this, but the person in question has gotten really, really in her head.

Kinda like how that Braxton guy was.

Wonder where he went?

Come to think of it, the world has been a little devoid of people.

Sure, there's Sienna..

And Rosemary, though she doesn't really count..

She misses Maria, though.

And a little bit of her inside kind of misses Allie.

Not that she liked her, but she liked getting back on her for the unforgivable crime of wedding interruption.

She'd seen Taya a few times, but Taya doesn't seem to want to have seen her.

What happened To Taya? She used to-

"She used to be a thunder goddess, did she not..?" Somebody murmurs.

Laurel can feel a hand on her shoulder.

And chills down her spine.

She hasn't felt this out of her element since her first drink!


	4. Chapter 4

"..She did," Laurel replies to the voice. "She used to be a goddess, didn't she-"

She paused.

Laurel paused, shivering again.

It's gotten so cold.

Yet the atmosphere is inviting.

Why is she talking to randomly appearing people?

She can't even see them.

She can't even see if the person touching her is one of the people who wants her dead.

Whether for inheritance, or just 'cause.

She'd really have to be more careful in the future.

"Being careful was never a strong point of yours, was it..?"

"No, not really-"

Why is she just.. casually chatting with this person?

"We know that already, Laurel. It's glaringly obvious.."

She's decided to give into the welcoming atmosphere.

She's not being killed, after all.

And if she starts to be, she's pretty formidable..

..Right?


	5. Chapter 5

No, thankfully she isn't being killed.

It's not her sister, back from her death in mysterious circumstances..

She doesn't even remember her sister's name.

She just remembers that they'd never found her body..

Or even a hint that she had actually died other than the flames that licked the walls.

But there's no reason to doubt that her sister is gone.

There was a fire, that had consumed the Van Ness house.

One witness. A young, scared cop.

He'd called for backup, because he'd seen the blazing house.

He'd apparently seen what looked like a monster, a man and a girl accompanying them.

Now, where had she heard of that kind of trio before..?

She still feels the presence, but as looking around reveals, nobody is here.

The monster..

Why is that so familiar?

..

Abyss.

Abyss could have burned down her daddy's home, with her sister inside..

Why would he be with a girl, and another man?

Oh.

Them.

Decay.

"Decay, Decay.." Laurel almost hears around her.


	6. Chapter 6

Laurel hasn't quite realised how much time has actually passed since this invisible presence made itself known, until now.

Two. 

Hours.

Two hours of being in her own mind.

She knows somebody's there, she's sure of it.

She can feel it.

It's running fingers down her arm, in a bizarrely soothing way.

What is this, a massage ghost..?


	7. Chapter 7

No, don't be silly. It's just shivers from being out in the cold.

But then, why does it feel so much like somebody really is touching her, fingers appropriately ghosting down her arms?

And the breathing.

The faint breathing.

Somebody must be there.

"Our deepest apologies for the fright..

We were having trouble manifesting."

A voice. It's so familiar. The voice of a demon, the same one who was laughing.

Rosemary.

It's Rosemary, the 'demon shard', Laurel thinks that's what Rosemary says she is.

And such a shard has just rested her chin on Laurel's shoulder, smudging some paint on her filthy wedding dress.


	8. Chapter 8

And when she saw the demon, she almost jumped from the seat there and then.

"Rosemary?!"

"That's us.."

"I thought you had Su Yung to fu- mess with?"

"Mess with..? We don't "mess". We follow the commands and demands of the Shadow."

"Right.. sorry."

The demon sat beside her then, still uncomfortably close.

"We only came because you looked so alone, and the shadow demanded I do something about it~!"

Rosemary continued to smear face paint onto Laurel's shoulder from her.. nuzzling?, though whether this was accidental or on purpose she didn't really know.

Why is she acting like this? That was Laurel's first question.

After all, Laurel had been partially.. well, a lot responsible for the assault of Rosemary's only real friend for years.

..That friend, who was dead. Laurel reminds herself of this, sizing up the demon who frankly looked a lot stronger than her.

Maybe this was a ruse, to kill her?

Judging by how comfortable the demon seems to be making herself, this probably isn't the case.

But as the only living Van Ness, she's gotta be paranoid.

Even if she's pickling her guts with alcohol..

That's when the demon swiped her hand, causing her to drop the bottle.

"Hey!"

"Isn't that poisonous for humans..?"


	9. Chapter 9

"Wouldn't you much prefer something more nourishing to your fleshy insides?" The demon asks, curling around Laurel Van Ness in a manner that wasn't unlike a snake coiling around its' dinner of a smaller mouse.

"Nourishing to my.."

"Water, Laurel, We mean water."

"I'm fine with this!" Laurel said abruptly, holding up her champagne bottle as Rosemary giggles.

"Wasn't the way you put it 'pickling your guts'?"

"I mean, yeah, but.."

"Mortals are intriguing as ever."

"Thank you..?  
If that's an.. um, compliment."

"Oh, it could be interpreted as one if you wanted to.."

And Laurel continued to sit, Rosemary coiled around her as if at any moment she'd lean down and take a bite.

A hungry glint shone from those green eyes, as she looked Laurel up and down.


	10. Chapter 10

The day after that, it happened again.

She pickled her guts, and Rosemary manifested in her coil.

With a "Water would be better,"

Or a "Would you not prefer 'coffee'?"

Though Laurel saw less and less of her soon-made demon friend.

And more and more of the blossoming friendship with Taya.

It's happening again.

People are being taken from her.

Allie took Braxton,

And now Taya's taken Rosemary!

There's only one solution now.

She threw the bottle of champagne to the floor, as she erupted ringside filled with rage.

It feels good, though, to beat somebody like this again.

Maybe that's why she missed Allie-

No, she missed hurting Allie.

But she can take it out on another now..

..And Rosemary looked to be doing the same thing.

Maybe their friendship wasn't gone as Laurel thought.


End file.
